Somehow, that fact became the one that seized strangers' attention, a curiosity that overshadowed all else in this bizarre situation. Maybe it's the grotesquely comic imagery of a woman cheering on NASCAR drivers with a corpse at her side. Or perhaps turning this tale from a calamity into a comedy provides comfort. Of course, we quietly reassure ourselves, no one will ever question our sanity.

While few of us are candidates to end up with a corpse on the couch, this story — which still may end up in court — does touch most of us in some way. Who can imagine the pain of isolation that Chase no doubt felt, the sting of losing her best friend as she entered her golden years? As a generation of baby boomers turns into seniors, they face a litany of issues dealing with finances, personal security and health, some of which were displayed in the murder-suicide this week of an elderly Jackson couple.

We don't pretend to understand the mindset that led Chase to preserve her friend's body for so long in her home, to deceive relatives of Zigler who came to check on him, and to cash his benefit checks. That will be the difficult task for the legal system, which must judge whether to consider her a criminal and, if so, how to remedy what she has done.

Yet even as the nation casts a glimpse at the "NASCAR corpse," chuckles and moves on, it's important to keep the human dimension of this story front and center. And we hope people in the Jackson community might remember what happened here the next time they get wind of a tale from somewhere else that, because of its absurdity, treats people as caricatures.

We didn't know Charlie Zigler personally, but Linda Chase did. She cared for him deeply, admired much about her friend and, inexplicably, made awful choices after discovering he had died in their home.

May Charlie Zigler's soul rest in peace, and we hope his body receives the care and respect it deserves.

We also hope Linda Chase receives the justice — and maybe, the help — that serves her best.